Inf. 1. Is there such a mighty power in the word? then certain!?/ the word is of divine authority. There cannot be a more clear and satisfying proof that it is no human invention, than the common sense that all believers have of the Almighty power in which it works upon their hearts. So speaks the apostle, 1 Thes. ii. 13. " When " ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received " it not as the word of man, but (as it is in truth) the word of " God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." Can the power of any creature, the word of a mere man, so convince the conscience, so terrify the heart, so discover the very secret thoughts of the soul, as to put a man into such tremblings ? No, a greater than man must needs be here ; none but a God can so open the eyes of the blind, so open the graves of the dead, so quicken and enliven the conscience that was seared, so bind over the soul of a sinner to the judgment to come, so change and alter the frame and temper of a man's spirit, or so powerfully raise, refresh and com- fort a drooping dying soul ; certainly the power of God is in all this ; and, if there were no more, yet this alone were sufficient to make full proof of the divine authority of the scriptures.
Inf. 2. Judge from hence what an invaluable mercy the preaching of the word is to the world: It is a blessing far above our estimation of it ; little do we know what a treasure God committeth to us in the ordinances, Acts xiii. 25. " To you is the word of this salva- " tion sent." It is the very power of God to salvation, Rom. i. 16. And salvation is ordinarily denied to wrhom the preaching of the word is denied, Rom. x. 14. It is called the word of life, Phil. n. 16. and deserves to be valued by every one of us as our life. The eternal decree of God's election is executed by it upon our souls ; as many as he ordained to eternal life shall believe by the preaching of it. Great is the ingratitude of this generation, which so slights and undervalues this invaluable treasure ; which is a sad
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presage of the most terrible judgment, even in the removing our candlestick out of its place, except we repent.
Inf. 3. How sore and terrible a judgment lies upon the souls of t/iose men to whom no word of God is made powerful enough to con- vince and awaken them ! Yet so stands the case with thousands, who constantly sit under the preaching of the word ; many arrows are shot at their consciences, but none goes home to the mark, all fall short of the end ; the commandment hath come unto them many thousand times, by way of promulgation and ministerial inculcation, but yet never came home to their souls by the Spirit's effectual ap- plication. O friends ! you have often heard the voice of man, but you never yet heard the voice of God ; your understandings have been instructed, but your consciences to this day were never tho- roughly convinced. " We have mourned unto you, but ye have not " lamented," Matth. xi. 17. "Who hath believed our report? " And unto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed F" Alas ! we have laboured in vain, we have spent our strength for nought ; our word returns unto us empty; but O what a stupendous judg- ment is here ! Heb. vi. 7, 8. " The earth which drinketh in the " rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for " them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God ; but " that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh " unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.'" What a sore judgment and sign of God's displeasure would you account it, if your fields were cursed ; if you should manure, dress, plow, and sow them, but never reap the fruit of your labour ; the increase being still blasted ? And yet this were nothing, compared with the blasting of the word to your souls : that which is a savour of life unto life unto some, becomes the savour of death unto death to others, 2 Cor. ii. 16. The Lord affect our hearts with the terrible strokes of God upon the souls of men !
I shall conclude this point with a few words of exhortation to three sorts of men, viz.
1. To those that never felt the power of the word.
2. To those that have only felt some slight and common effects
3. To those unto whose very hearts the commandment is come,
in its effectual and saving power. First, You that never felt any power in the word at all, I beg you in the name of him that made you, and by all the regard and value you have for those precious souls within you, that now at last such considerations as these may find place in your souls, and that you will bethink yourselves.
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Consideration 1. Whose word is that which cannot gain entrance into your hearts ? Is it not the word of God which you despise and slight ? " Thou " casteth my word behind thy back,"" Psal. 1. 17. O what an affront and provocation to God is this ! You despise not man, but God ; the great and terrible God, in whose hand your breath and soul are : This contempt runs higher than you imagine.
Consider, that however the word hath no power upon you, the commandment cannot come home to your hearts ; yet it doth work, and comes home with power to the hearts of others : Whilst you are hardened, others are melted under it ; whilst you sleep, others tremble ; whilst your hearts are fast locked up, others are opened. How can you choose but reflect with fear and trembling upon these contrary effects of the word ; especially when you consider that the eternal decrees, both of election and reprobation, are now executed upon the souls of men, by the preaching of the word ; some believe, and others are hardened.
That no judgment of God, on this side hell, is greater than a hard heart and stupid conscience under the word ; it were much better that the providence of God should blast thy estate, take away thy children, or destroy thy health, than harden thy heart, and sear thy conscience under the word : So much as thy soul is better than thy body, so much as eternity is more valuable than time, so much is this spiritual judgment more dreadful than all temporal ones. God doth not inflict a more terrible stroke than this upon any man in this world.